Fury targeting Joshua clash after accepting backdated ban
Heavyweight free to fight after striking Ukad deal Chief executive admits to failings in doping case
Tyson Fury controversially escaped a career-threatening drugs ban last night, thus clearing the way for a fight with Anthony Joshua.
Fury accepted a backdated twoyear suspension, which expired at midnight, almost three years after testing positive for a banned steroid in one of the longest-running and most complex doping inquiries seen in the UK. The 29-year-old, who has not fought since becoming world champion in November 2015 by beating Wladimir Klitschko, wasted no time in challenging Joshua, the holder of three world heavyweight belts.
Fury (right) said on Twitter: “Where you at boy? I’m coming for you punk ent no1 blocking my path now!”
Fury celebrated the most convenient of sanctions – one that disqualified him from his February 2015 win over Christian Hammer but, crucially, not from his career-defining triumph over Klitschko nine months later – as UK Anti-doping announced an inquest into its botched handling of a case that could have resulted in the boxer being banned for four years.
Ukad was forced to strike a deal with Fury and his cousin Hughie, who stood accused of the same offence, after what chief executive Nicole Sapstead admitted had been its “failure” to inform the fighters they could face action until charging them 16 months after nandrolone was discovered in their urine. That also allowed Fury to escape further action for refusing to take a test in September last year, something he argued he only did because of Ukad’s previous attitude towards him during what was the height of a battle he waged against depression and cocaine abuse. “It was probably a failure on our part,” Sapstead said yesterday. “When we run a review of this case, that will probably be something that emerges out of it.”
Fury is one of the richest sportsmen the agency has tried to ban and it emerged last month it could effectively be bankrupted if it did not win its long-running legal battle and was subsequently sued for millions in lost earnings. But Sapstead denied Ukad had backed down because the case had become too expensive for an organisation with a budget of only about £8 million. “That was not the sole reason we got to where we got to today – absolutely not,” she said. “We would have fought this to the nth degree.” Despite accepting backdated bans, the Furys both maintained their innocence. Fury said: “Hughie and I have maintained our innocence from day one and we’re now happy that we can move forward knowing that we’ll not be labelled drug cheats. “I will be back doing what I do best, ready to reclaim the world titles, which are rightfully mine.”